Christmas Surprise
by mocca93
Summary: Usually Katniss doesn't like Christmas at all, but maybe a knock on her door could change that. Fluffy X-Mas oneshot.


„Katniss, wake up!" Prim's soft voice came through my dream, causing me to wake up in an instance.

"Prim? Is something wrong?", I asked and looked at her worriedly. It was not common that she woke me up this early.

My little duck was sitting on the edge of my bed, a huge grin on her face and took my hand. "It's Christmas and there is a lot of snow outside!"

I groaned and hid my face in my pillow. I hated Christmas! Well, not really Christmas itself, but rather the big amount of snow. The white powder made it impossible for Gale and me to hunt. The deer always hid well and it was too cold for the squirrels to come out of their hiding place as well. Freaking perfect. Finally I got out of bed and looked out of the window. The whole Seam was covered with a thick white layer of snow. My mood sank even more when I noticed the huge grey clouds at the sky. There would definitely be a heavy snowstorm today.

...

At noon the storm was already so heavy that you couldn't even see your own hand in front of your eyes if you were outside. Well, I guessed no one was stupid enough to leave the house during this weather anyway. Or at least I thought so…

Two hours later there was a loud knock on our door. I exchanged a surprised look with Prim and mum, who were sitting in the kitchen.

"Who in God's name could that be?"

I just shrugged at mum's question and left the kitchen to open the door.

There was an enormous pile of snow right in front of our house. I looked left and right, but I couldn't see anyone who could have knocked. Must have been the wind.

All of a sudden the pile of snow started moving and I jumped, screaming. What the hell?

A quiet chuckle came through the snow.

"Awww, did I finally manage to scare you, Catnip?"

I stared at the big amount of snow, still completely shocked. "Gale?"

"And Posy!" A high-pitched voice got through the thick white powder as well.

Then Gale shook the snow off his body, grinning at me. Posy was sitting on his shoulders, shivering.

"What are you doing here?" I wanted to know and let them in.

"Mum thought that it would be a nice idea to celebrate Christmas together so we came to ask you. We had no idea that the storm would be this bad", said Gale while Prim was handing him and Posy a cup of hot tea and a blanket. She was thrilled by the idea of celebrating with the Hawthornes. "Oh yeah, please, can we? That would be so much fun!" Usually we didn't celebrate Christmas, but Prim had been pestering me for the last few years. I rolled my eyes, but mum had already accepted the offer. "We could have dinner here, it's enough space."

Gale nodded. "Sounds great." He grinned at me again. "I guess we should get the tree then."

I scowled at him. "The tree? Please don't tell me that you bought some kind of stupid Christmas tree at the Hob!"

"Jeez, Catnip, why would I pay for a tree if I have the whole woods right in front of my door?"

He was impossible, but I guessed that this was exactly the point why I liked him.

"Mum, do we still have granny's old box with the decoration stuff?"

She nodded and Prim offered to get it. In the meantime Gale and I went to get the tree that Gale had left in front of our house. As soon as we were out of sight I smacked his arm.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"For scaring me. And for turning up with a freaking Christmas tree."

He just gave me a sheepish grin. "Still don't like Christmas?"

"No."

"What a shame."

...

We put up the tree in the living room. Fortunately it was rather small, because there wasn't a lot of space, especially with eight people in it.

Mum, Prim and Posy started setting up the tree while Gale and I took care of dinner. When the snowstorm was nearly over, Hazelle, Rory and Vick joined us, bringing some food with them as well. When I entered the living room for the next time the tree was already decorated with candles, stars and other stuff. Prim was nearly jumping around in the room, the joy evident in her eyes.

"You are so gonna be her hero for the rest of your life!", I whispered to Gale who was standing next to me, watching his family.

"Guessed so much. You know Catnip, most of the time it's a little thing like that that makes you the ladies' favourite."

I gave him a sarcastic chuckle. "You and the ladies' favourite?...Sure."

"Oh come on, I'm charming."

"Yeah, because one-night-stands at the Slag Heap are so freaking charming."

To my satisfaction he started blushing. "Shut up, okay?"

I turned round to go back into the kitchen, but I could still hear him mumble something like "Stupid girl talk."

...

A couple of minutes later Posy came running into the kitchen. She started pulling at the hem of Gale's shirt and he lifted her up. "What's up, sweetheart? Already finished setting up the tree?"

She smiled at him and nodded. "Yes. Can we play outside now?"

We both looked out of the window. The snowstorm had stopped and the weather was actually quite nice now.

Gale agreed. "Sure. But stay in the garden, okay?"

He put Posy back down on the floor and she took his hand, pulling him with her.

Gale chuckled. "What? You want me to come with you?"

"Please?"

"Okay." He bent down and whispered something into her ear. Posy started grinning and ran to me. Now she was pulling on my hand. Wait! Did she seriously want me to play with them? Good lord…

I sighed. "Alright. What do you want to play?"

Posy squealed in delight. "Hide and seek."

As we were going outside, I leaned closer to Gale. "You so owe me."

A huge grin appeared on his face. "I certainly don't think so."

...

"I am the seeker, so you all have to hide now," Posy said and started counting. We ran and hid, but she found us rather quickly. Half an hour later Posy was the seeker again and Gale pulled me with him, right behind a big pile of snow. For a long time, nothing happened.

"Is Posy still looking for us?" I asked Gale.

He looked around the corner. "Yeah, she is running towards us. We have to be quiet!"

Although we didn't make a single sound, I couldn't hear anything else than our heartbeats. I even expected Posy to jump out of her hiding place, screaming "Got you", but nothing happened. Our kitchen window was close to me and when I risked a quick look I saw Posy and the others sitting at the table, drinking tea. What's that supposed to mean? How could she be inside when she was supposed to be looking for us?

"Gale…," I started, but before I had the chance to finish my sentence, he covered my lips with his.

...

At first I couldn't believe it. Was he seriously just kissing me? For some weird reason I even enjoyed this feeling and wrapped my arms around his neck. I had no idea that something could ever feel so good. Gale wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer, still not leaving my lips. After we had broken apart I smiled at him.

"You knew that she wasn't looking for us anymore, didn't you?"

"Of course I knew."

"Cheater!", I laughed, causing him to start laughing as well.

He winked at me. "Can you even complain about that?"

I shook my head. "No, not really", I said and pulled him down for another kiss.

...

"Hey, what have you been doing for so long?", Prim asked as we joined the others in the living room.

"Nothing. We were just waiting for Posy to find us," Gale answered, but we both couldn't help but start blushing. No need for my little sister to find out that we were kissing nearly all the time.

"Dinner is nearly ready. Why don't you find yourself a seat in the kitchen?" Mum said and everyone except Prim and I left the room.

Prim smiled at me. "So, what was really going on between you and Gale, hm?"

"Like he said, nothing." I flat out lied, praying that the vicious heat on my cheeks would finally go away.

"Oh come on! We both now that this is not true."

I sighed. "Alright. We were…kissing." There was obviously no point in lying to my sister.

To my surprise Prim just grinned. "Finally!"

"What?"

"We were already betting when this would happen." Prim said, taking my hand.

"You knew?"

"We all knew. We have eyes, you know! The only ones who didn't realize that you were totally in love with each other were you and Gale. Wait, I guess even Gale knew."

"Great," I muttered, but I just had to smile. That was just so…me.

...

After dinner we were all sitting in front of the Christmas tree. Mum and Hazelle had lit the candles and there were even a couple of little presents under the tree. But one of the best things on this evening was seeing the joy in the kid's eyes. We were singing some old Christmas carols and playing a lot of games. Since it was already dark, mum offered the Hawthornes to stay overnight and the younger kids squealed in delight.

"Do we get a good-night story?", Posy asked.

"Alright. Come here." Gale took her on his lap and started telling a story. I watched him and a warm pleasant feeling was rushing through my body. I closed my eyes and just listened to his voice for a moment.

...

After the children had gone to bed, Mum and Hazelle excused themselves and left us alone. Gale opened his arms and I moved closer, cuddling into him. He wrapped his arm around my waist and softly kissed my hair. "Merry Christmas, honey."

Still facing the candles I started smiling. Maybe Christmas might not be that bad after all…


End file.
